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</div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-13699"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/09/18/iraqi-youth-orchestra-combats-terror-with-beethoven-monsters-and-critics/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi youth orchestra combats terror with Beethoven – Monsters and Critics">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 18th, 2011 by Harith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/09/18/iraqi-youth-orchestra-combats-terror-with-beethoven-monsters-and-critics/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi youth orchestra combats terror with Beethoven – Monsters and Critics">Iraqi youth orchestra combats terror with Beethoven – Monsters and Critics</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdistan regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/monsters-and-critics/" rel="tag">monsters and critics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconciliation/" rel="tag">reconciliation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/state-symphony-orchestra/" rel="tag">State Symphony Orchestra</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="text-align: left; unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr"> <p>Erbil, Iraq – Can an Iraqi youth orchestra, bringing together different ethnic groups and religions, help to unite a divided country living in the shadow of violence and terror? </p> <p>The orchestra – created on the lines of Argentine-Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim’s Arab-Jewish West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and comprising Kurds, Arabs, Shiites, Sunnis and Christians – is ready to try. </p> <p>Car bombs, persecution of Christians and corruption are part of everyday life in Iraq, but the new orchestra wants to make a musical contribution toward forging a different kind of future. </p> <p>The orchestra, which will give its first guest performance at a Beethoven festival in the German city of Bonn on October 1, is to unite young musicians from different and usually divided ethnic and religious backgrounds. </p> <p>The founding members of the orchestra, created with British support by a young Iraqi pianist in 2009, include Tuka Saad Dschafar. </p> </p></div> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/09/18/iraqi-youth-orchestra-combats-terror-with-beethoven-monsters-and-critics/#more-13699" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12078"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/#respond" title="Comment on A pivotal year for Iraqis">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 3rd, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to A pivotal year for Iraqis">A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/2010/" rel="tag">2010</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/academics/" rel="tag">academics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-ahram/" rel="tag">Al-Ahram</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/alcohol/" rel="tag">alcohol</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-markets/" rel="tag">Baghdad Markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-church/" rel="tag">Catholic Church</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/somalia/" rel="tag">Somalia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombings/" rel="tag">suicide bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transparency-international/" rel="tag">Transparency International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/walls/" rel="tag">walls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Even with a new government finally in place in Iraq, the country is still on the brink of disaster, writes <b><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Salah Hemeid</a></b></p> <p>Ordinary Iraqis expressed their relief last week at the fact that a new government was finally in place after nine months of gridlock, hoping that this will now be a step towards peace and stability in the beleaguered nation.</p> <p>However, while the breakthrough may have ended the governmental impasse, the crisis has only highlighted the fragility of Iraqi state-building more than seven and a half years after the US-led invasion of the country.</p> <p>The year 2010 did not start off well for Iraq as violence persisted and politicians’ bickering raised concerns about the country’s ability to get back onto its feet after the US withdrawal next year. </p> <p>Thousands were killed, including civilian bystanders, army and security officers and government officials, and thousands others wounded in a string of suicide bombings and attacks in Iraq throughout the year.</p> <p>The violence proved that the Iraqi security forces are not yet able to protect civilians in terms of numbers, equipment and training, while insurgents tied to Al-Qaeda continue to launch attacks, spreading an air of danger in many Iraqi cities.</p> <p>Critics maintain that the newly trained Iraqi armed forces are incompetent and sharply divided along ethnic and sectarian lines and that they cannot be expected to succeed in ending the violence, raising questions about whether the remaining US troops in Iraq will be able to exit the country as many Iraqis desire. </p> <p>The United States has reiterated that it will stick to plans to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by December next year, but Washington might have second thoughts if the new government fails to restore stability and insurgents continue their campaign to bring it down. </p> <p>In addition to the security problems, the newly formed government has to end the chaos in Iraq and deal with multiple political, social and economic setbacks.</p> <p>One of the biggest problems is the deep schism facing the country, which needs to be bridged by national reconciliation. Reconciliation of Iraq’s ethno-religious communities is seen as a necessary precursor to stemming the country’s sectarian violence.</p> <p>There are dangers that the country is descending into a situation in which it is becoming less tolerant in terms of religious freedoms and human rights, as the government fails to deal with increasing fundamentalism.</p> <p>An intensifying campaign is putting more pressure on the government to go after religious fundamentalists, operating in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, who seek to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.</p> <p>There have been widespread reports that these groups have ordered social clubs, bars and alcohol shops to close down and that they are intimidating people who do not follow their version of Islamic values. </p> <p>The crackdown has included shutting music and drama departments in arts institutes, banning arts festivals and circuses, and imposing strict codes of behaviour.</p> <p>The moves have heightened concerns among academics and intellectuals that Iraq, now emerging from foreign occupation and war, is displaying all the tendencies of a Taliban-like Islamic state.</p> <p>The year 2010 was also among the worst for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing their homes and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the US-led invasion. </p> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by Al-Qaeda at a Christian Catholic Church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left some 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified.</p> <p>Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.</p> <p>In Baghdad, as well as in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. </p> <p>After more than seven years of war, the Iraqi economy is in tatters, with the country depending largely on imports for nearly everything from cars to tomatoes. Unemployment is among the highest in any country worldwide.</p> <p>The country also still lacks basic services. Electricity is in short supply, medicines are available mainly through the black market, and there are long lines for fuel in a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the world.</p> <p>Another serious problem is corruption, which is spectacular even by world standards. Iraq is ranked fifth from the bottom of the pressure group Transparency International’s list of 180 nations.</p> <p>Bribery and outright theft surround virtually every Iraqi government department, with some of the kickbacks being used by rival politicians to cement their power bases in order to perpetuate their hegemony in the country.</p> <p>Some two million Iraqi refugees are either abroad or displaced inside Iraq after being forced to flee their homes to safe havens because of violence and sectarian threats.</p> <p>Today, most of Baghdad’s neighbourhoods are shielded by high concrete walls from the rubble-strewn streets and are cordoned off by the security forces as residents are trapped in fear of a renewal of sectarian conflict. </p> <p>However, the good news in 2010 was that Iraq increased its oil exports. New Petroleum Minister Abdel-Karim Luaibi said on Wednesday that Iraq’s crude oil production had increased by 100,000 barrels a day to 2.5 million barrels. </p> <p>The ministry had announced earlier that sales from Iraqi crude oil exports during the first 11 months of 2010 had reached $46.9 billion. Last year, Iraq’s oil revenues reached $41.3 billion, compared with $60 billion in 2008.</p> <p>Iraq might have made other small advances in 2010, especially in avoiding civil war, but the country still has a long way to go. At the end of a long and exhausting year, it is hard to see a clear end in sight.</p> <p>Strengthening the Iraqi state will be hard, especially after the March elections that produced a government many Iraqis consider to be weak, fragmented and incompetent.</p> <p>According to some scenarios for post-2010 Iraq, next year will be crucial as it will see the withdrawal of the remaining US troops. The pullout will mean that the US will no longer have a large foothold in Iraq, leaving the country to local forces and interests as it absorbs the after- effects of the American-led invasion.</p> <p>One scenario is that the national partnership government will succeed in holding the country together and that a strong central government will emerge. This will be able to prevent violence escalating and erupting into all-out civil war.</p> <p>A second scenario would be that the instability in Iraq continues, with the growing confrontation between the country’s Sunnis and Shias over power and resources leading the country into chaos.</p> <p>Neighbouring countries will be fearful of the risk of contagion and will try to keep the chaos contained within Iraq’s borders. A proxy war could be the result, along the lines of what is happening in Somalia.</p> <p>Another scenario would be the collapse of the government because of sectarian fighting and the country descending into outright civil war. This would most likely lead to Iraq’s disintegration with instability spreading to the entire region.</p> <p>The year 2011 will be pivotal for Iraq’s future, and that future will be more than anything else determined by the fortunes of the new government. </p> <p>It is to be hoped that Iraq’s politicians will not repeat their previous mistakes and that they will stand together to end the people’s misery and start rebuilding the devastated country.</p> <p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11951"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/15/is-free-iraq-becoming-a-more-islamic-state-reuters/#respond" title="Comment on Is free Iraq becoming a more Islamic state? | Reuters">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 15th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/15/is-free-iraq-becoming-a-more-islamic-state-reuters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Is free Iraq becoming a more Islamic state? | Reuters">Is free Iraq becoming a more Islamic state? | Reuters</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/alcohol/" rel="tag">alcohol</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/alcohol-ban-on/" rel="tag">alcohol - ban on</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-provincial-council/" rel="tag">Baghdad provincial council</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-families/" rel="tag">christian families</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/endowments/" rel="tag">Endowments</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hair-dressing/" rel="tag">hair dressing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/intimidation/" rel="tag">intimidation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/intoxication/" rel="tag">intoxication</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/isci-sciri/" rel="tag">ISCI (SCIRI)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islamic-state/" rel="tag">islamic state</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/liquor-shops/" rel="tag">liquor shops</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/local-government/" rel="tag">Local Government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militia/" rel="tag">Militia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/morals/" rel="tag">morals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/muqtada-al-sadr/" rel="tag">Muqtada al-Sadr</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/najaf/" rel="tag">Najaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/parliamentary-election/" rel="tag">parliamentary election</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religious-parties/" rel="tag">Religious parties</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-al-din-qabbanji/" rel="tag">Sadr al-Din Qabbanji</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadrist-bloc/" rel="tag">Sadrist Bloc</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/secular-vs-religious/" rel="tag">Secular vs. Religious</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1/" rel="tag">حركة الصدر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>(<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BE30N20101215?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20reuters/worldNews%20%28News%20/%20US%20/%20International%29" class="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a>) – A group of men recently ordered Siham al-Zubaidi to close down her Baghdad hair salon for two months for Shi’ite religious festivities. She had no idea who they were but complied because she feared for her life.</p> <p>"Can you just tell me who will pay the rent of my shop for these two months? What shall I do to support my family? What is the relation between hair dressing and religious events?" Zubaidi, 40, asked furiously.</p> <p>"This is a new dictatorship. They want Iraq to be an Islamic state. But this is not right. Iraq includes a variety of religious factions … These are alien ideas, not Iraqi."</p> <p>Recent efforts by authorities, clergy and unknown bands of neighborhood enforcers to police morals by shutting nightclubs, bars and other establishments has heightened concerns among academics and intellectuals that Iraq, now emerging from war, is displaying the tendencies of a hard-line Islamic state.</p> <p>Baghdad’s local government this month re-activated a federal order from last year to close down the capital’s nightclubs and liquor shops due to concern the venues were undermining morals.</p> <p>Last week, anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr issued a strongly worded statement calling for Iraqis to take a stand against "corruption, intoxication and addiction."</p> <p>The crackdown in Baghdad was preceded by similar actions in some Shi’ite-majority provinces in the south.</p> <p>"What is going on are normal consequences when religious parties take over power. They start with such practices, and end the way the Taliban in Afghanistan ended, or other parties in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.reuters.com/places/iran" class="external" target="_blank">Iran</a>," Baghdad political analyst Hazim al-Nuaimi said.</p> <p>In September, local authorities in Babil province prevented an arts festival that has been held yearly since before 2003. Security forces told organizers a day after the festival started to end it because it included dance shows.</p> <p>In the southern city of Basra, the government shut down a foreign circus a few days after it opened last month. It was the first circus the province had hosted in decades.</p> <p>Basra authorities said the government department of Shi’ite endowments held that the land on which the circus was set up could not be used in a way that violated Islamic Sharia law.</p> <p>The new measures sparked protests by some Iraqis who said the government is trying to kill freedom more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and paved the way for majority Shi’ites to take power.</p> <p>RADICAL CONCEPTS</p> <p>"What is going on, in fact, is an attempt to impose the radical concepts of the Islamic fundamentalist parties who dominate the political scene in Iraq…that’s what we are afraid of," said Qasim Mohammed, a journalist who protested with dozens of others in Baghdad’s main square Sunday.</p> <p>Kamel al-Zaidi, head of the Baghdad provincial council, described the protesters in televised comments as "paid people who want to turn Iraq into a community of atheists."</p> <p>But the crackdown, alongside a series of attacks on Iraq’s minority Christian community, raised questions about freedom of religion and expression in mainly Muslim Iraq.</p> <p>In the worst of the attacks, dozens died after Sunni insurgents took hostages at a Baghdad cathedral on October 31. Hundreds of Christian families have since fled for the relative safety of the Kurdish north, and abroad.</p> <p>During Friday prayers last week, many Shi’ite clerics supported the Baghdad provincial council and called on the government to show more determination.</p> <p>"The decision of the government and the provincial council is right," said Sadr al Din al Qubanchi, a prominent cleric in the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a Shi’ite political bloc.</p> <p>"Those who condemn it must realize that the Iraqi identity is Islamic, and the government is responsible for practicing this identity," said Qubanchi in a speech in the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf.</p> <p>Sabbar al-Saeidi, the head of the legal committee of the Baghdad provincial council, defended the new measures.</p> <p>"The measures are aimed at fighting anything against moral and public discipline, whether it is a circus or not," Saeidi said.</p> <p>Overt and illegal acts of religious intimidation may have been worse three years ago, when Shi’ite militias and Sunni insurgents roamed Iraq freely.</p> <p>Now, bands of loosely organised, unknown men are carrying out threats quietly against liquor shops, schools and other establishments, and with groups like Sadr’s movement claiming a share of political power, critics say the government is closing its eyes to the intimidation.</p> <p>NAKED STATUES</p> <p>Residents of Baghdad’s mainly Shi’ite Shaab district say many alcohol shops have been attacked in recent weeks.</p> <p>At a government-run fine arts institute in Baghdad, unknown men showed up this week and ordered the removal of all statues from the yard, an official of the facility said.</p> <p>They said "it is not good to show such statues. Some of them are naked," said the official, who asked not to be named because he feared for his safety.</p> <p>The music program at the school was shut down. Students are not allowed to wear short skirts, short sleeve shirts or makeup, according to a female student.</p> <p>"(A school official) told us it is Haram (forbidden). Some teachers consider any girl who does this as absent," she said. "A top official once put an X on my classmate’s leg as she was wearing a short skirt."</p> <p>Protesters on both sides have taken to the streets. On Friday hundreds responded to Sadr’s call.</p> <p>"Stand against those who want to disseminate corruption, intoxication, and addiction (to alcohol), to make Iraq drift toward ignorance, degeneration, lewdness, to make our society rot like the West," Sadr said in his statement.</p> <p>Political analysts said the coming era could see an escalation of intimidation as Sadr’s fundamentalist religious movement plays a larger role in government.</p> <p>Sadr won 39 seats in a March parliamentary election and then pledged support for incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a key step in an agreement between political blocs that end a months-long political impasse.</p> <p>"What is going on is a new tendency of a new culture that wants to take us backward," said Haider Munaathar, a well-known actor and head of Iraq’s theater union. "We must not keep silent toward those who want Iraq to wear a robe of their choosing."</p> <p>(Editing by Jim Loney and Samia Nakhoul)</p> <ul></ul> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BE30N20101215?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20reuters/worldNews%20%28News%20/%20US%20/%20International%29" class="external" target="_blank">Is free Iraq becoming a more Islamic state? | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11724"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/27/my-life-is-here/#respond" title="Comment on "My life is here"">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 27th, 2010 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/27/my-life-is-here/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to "My life is here"">"My life is here"</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/egypt/" rel="tag">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Samer (not his real name) is a professional violinist in his twenties from Baghdad. Last year, he fled the violence in the city to Syria, only to return nine months later, despite the dangers. </p> <p>“Though the situation in Iraq is terrible for all Iraqis, the appearance of religious militias after the invasion in 2003 has made things especially difficult for musicians,” Samer told IRIN in a telephone interview. He explained that extremist militias, which had no presence in Baghdad prior to the start of the war, frequently target Iraqis involved in the arts; they consider music in particular as forbidden. “I continue to practice, study and perform, but just to be safe I carry my violin in a black plastic bag so no one recognizes it,” Samer said. </p> <p>Last year, he had enough and decided to leave Iraq. “After travelling in and out of Iraq several times, including to Egypt, I decided to go to Syria, where I continued to study, in the hope that I could lead a safer life there. In Baghdad, things are very difficult for us all, and the threat of death is everywhere.” </p> <p>But he was deeply unhappy in Syria. “I love Iraq so much, and my love is what gives me inspiration to play music. Leaving Iraq made me lose my inspiration to play, and therefore my reason for being. My life is here, and my decision to stay and to continue being a musician is my personal way of resisting the destruction that is being inflicted on my country.” </p> <p>Unlike the majority of returning refugees who are unable to meet their most basic needs, Samer does not regret his decision to go home. </p> <p>“What I do wish for, however, is the right to travel, to take my music to other countries and to share our culture with other people,” he said. “But, as you know, it is extremely hard for an Iraqi to get a visa for most countries. I wish this would change, because we have so much to share, including a rich, ancient culture, and such love for the arts.”</p> <blockquote> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=90897" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: "My life is here" | Iraq | Refugees/IDPs | Security</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11420"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/05/the-oud-maker-and-his-cat/#comments" title="Comment on The Oud Maker And His Cat">7 Comments</a></span> Posted on September 5th, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/05/the-oud-maker-and-his-cat/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The Oud Maker And His Cat">The Oud Maker And His Cat</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/photos/" title="View all posts in Photos" rel="category tag">Photos</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/postcards-from-iraq/" title="View all posts in Postcards from Iraq" rel="category tag">Postcards from Iraq</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-music/" rel="tag">arab music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/artisans/" rel="tag">Artisans</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-markets/" rel="tag">Baghdad Markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crafts/" rel="tag">crafts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/musical-instruments/" rel="tag">musical instruments</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oud/" rel="tag">oud</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>A photo essay in 3 parts:</p> <p><a title="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_01 by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4960566734/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="259" alt="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_01" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/4960566734_de6fccd3cd_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> <p><a title="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_02 by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4959973639/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="498" alt="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_02" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4959973639_39540385d5_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> <p><a title="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_03 by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4959976615/" class="external" target="_blank"><img height="524" alt="Photo_essay_in_3_parts_Oud_maker_03" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/4959976615_e94eb6dd09_o.jpg" width="350"/></a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-7560"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/10/22/good-morning-baghdad-nightclubs-corruption-and-iraqs-new-normalcy/#respond" title="Comment on ‘Good Morning Baghdad’: Nightclubs, Corruption and Iraq’s New Normalcy">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/10/22/good-morning-baghdad-nightclubs-corruption-and-iraqs-new-normalcy/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to ‘Good Morning Baghdad’: Nightclubs, Corruption and Iraq’s New Normalcy">‘Good Morning Baghdad’: Nightclubs, Corruption and Iraq’s New Normalcy</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/adhamiya/" rel="tag">Adhamiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/alcohol/" rel="tag">alcohol</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amman/" rel="tag">Amman</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basrah-surge/" rel="tag">Basrah "surge"</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/beer/" rel="tag">beer</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/camp-ashraf/" rel="tag">Camp Ashraf</a>, <a 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اشرف</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a3%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%81-%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9/" rel="tag">أشرف مدينة</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ad%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1/" rel="tag">حركة الصدر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p id="spIntroTeaser">Life is returning to the streets of Iraq as improved security has meant theater openings, packed restaurants and an emerging middle class. But violence is still an element of daily life and corruption threatens to become debilitating.</p> <div id="spArticleBody"> <p>Mohammed al-Rahhal wears sideburns, a white suit and a red shirt open to his chest. On stage at a Baghdad nightclub, he sings, dances and taps his boots to the beat of the music. A band is playing behind him, and four young women are swooning at his side — three thin ones wearing pumps and full-length dresses, and a heavy, slightly clumsier one.</p> <p> The audience at Khayyam — named after a Persian poet — is drinking ice-cold beer, nibbling on Lebanese hors d’oeuvres, and swinging exuberantly to the music. A bouncer is collecting small arms at the entrance. Then a businessman stands up, walks up to the stage, pulls a stack of banknotes out of his pocket and whispers something into the singer’s ear.</p> <p>“Long live the youth of Adhamiyah!”, Rahhal bellows into the microphone. Adhamiyah is one of the Sunni districts of Baghdad that, until two years ago, was firmly in the stranglehold of al-Qaida.</p> <p>“Long live the youth of Madinat al-Sadr!” It’s a reference to the eastern Shiite slum that has been the scene of devastating suicide attacks. Cheers erupt. The businessman tosses piles of 1,000-dinar and one-dollar bills into the air. The money is whirled about by the ceiling fans, and it slowly falls to the floor, like confetti.</p> <p>“This is Iraq!” a Turkmen from Kirkuk yells over the din. “This country will never become a theocracy!” The euphoria escalates into joyful pandemonium. Young men — Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis, Christians and Shiites — jump up and dance in front of the stage.</p> <p> <b>Zest for Life</b> </p> <p>The first nightclub in Baghdad began welcoming guests a year ago — the first to open for business since the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein suddenly developed a religious streak after defeat in the first Gulf War in Kuwait and prohibited the serving of alcohol. The conservative Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, of all people, lifted the ban.</p> <p>Now, after years of violence and death, a zest for life has seized Iraq. On Thursday evenings, endless wedding convoys pull up at the hotel security checkpoints, causing traffic to back up for miles. Once they arrive, 50, sometimes as many as 60 couples tie the knot in mass weddings at establishments with names like the Mansur, the Babil, and the Palestine. Right up until the curfew at midnight, colorful lanterns light up Abu Nuwas Street, a famous riverside promenade.</p> <p>The carp restaurants in the park along the Tigris, which were deserted during the years of terror, are once again doing a brisk business. So too are the police officers who provide security for the neighborhood, often in return for a bit of cash in hand.</p> <p>In late June, US troops began their withdrawal, and in January, post-war Iraq is to go to the polls for the third time. The new state is gradually taking shape after a violent birth that cost the lives of nearly 100,000 Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans. It is not the model Arab democracy that former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair once envisioned. Neither is it the Islamic Republic that the mullahs in Tehran would like to see as their neighbor. And it is certainly not the murderous caliphate that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden wanted to establish in Mesopotamia.</p> <p> <b>An Authoritarian Nationalist</b> </p> <p>It is a state in which hundreds of people continue to die every month in attacks and gunfights. Al-Qaida has been forced to retreat to the north, where it has been launching an increasing number of assaults in recent weeks. Now that the war between Sunnis and Shiites has ceased, the terrorist organization intends to rekindle the conflict between Arabs and Kurds.</p> <p>In the south the government is trying to boost oil production, but in June when it opened bidding for eight oil fields, an investor could only be found for one. Iraq is the richest country in the Middle East, after Iran; it has the oil that Syria, Egypt and Turkey don’t have; it has the water that is not widely available in the region; and it has an educated elite. But it also has a government that hasn’t even begun to exploit this potential.</p> <p>The result is a contradictory polity that, for both the Iraqis and the rest of the world, will take some time to get used to. It is a police state — but also one that grants liberties the likes of which have not been seen in living memory. It is an oil superpower riddled by nepotism and corruption, where a handful of parliamentarians are struggling to forge a constitutional state. It is a country whose prime minister, during a mere three and a half years in office, has gone from being a Shiite compromise candidate to an authoritarian nationalist who nonetheless allows for an unusual amount of freedom.</p> <p>A new, rich upper-class has emerged. During the religious fasting month of Ramadan two years ago, commercial jets flying between Baghdad and Beirut, Amman and Dubai were not even half full. This year’s festival, which took place from late August to late September, saw flights booked out well in advance. Iraq’s elite went shopping. In the affluent Karrada district of Baghdad where, following the US invasion in 2003, new refrigerators, children’s bicycles and kerosene heaters heralded an initial wave of prosperity, car dealerships are now selling Porsches and Jaguars.</p> <p> <b>‘Lining Their Pockets’</b> </p> <p>A great deal of money is in circulation, but where does it come from? “Corruption was always bad,” says former Minister of Telecommunications Juwan Fouad Masum<i>. </i>She says that the upcoming elections in January are spurring politicians and high-ranking officials to ever greater degrees of vice. “No minister or general director knows if he will retain his post after the elections. So they’re filling their pockets now.”</p> <p>Masum lives in the Kadissija compound, a residential area guarded by Kurdish elite units, where Saddam’s ministers once resided. Four cars are parked in front of her villa and the swimming pool glows blue in the twilight.</p> <p>“The problem,” she says “is the system.” When a minister leaves office, the entire staff of the ministry leaves as well, right down to the man who makes the tea. This is a custom which has been revived from the Saddam era. There is rampant cronyism, which also leads to incompetence and corruption. Masum now has a job directing a business consulting firm. She says she would rather work abroad than in her own country.</p> </p> <p><b>Debilitating Corruption in the New Iraq</b></p> <p>Over the past few years, Iraq has risen to become the second-most corrupt country in the world, surpassed only by Somalia on the index of the international non-governmental corruption watchdog Transparency International. Former Minister of Trade Abd al-Falah Sudani, along with his brothers, embezzled so much money from the food rationing program — known as the Public Distribution System — that he decided it would be best to flee to Dubai. His plane was already in the air when it was ordered to return to Baghdad, where he was arrested at the airport.</p> <p>“We have 10 hours of electricity a day, 15 hours of freedom of speech and 24 hours of corruption,” as the Kurds say in northern Iraq, where two clans have been pulling the strings for decades. One of these groups is led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.</p> <p>The parliament in Baghdad is actually one of the bodies responsible for investigating such abuses. “Our monthly salary is the equivalent of €6,700 ($10,000),” says Maysoon al-Damluji, a parliamentarian. “In addition, we are each entitled to 30 security personnel with a minimum salary of €300 per month.” She doesn’t want to malign her colleagues, she adds, but it is highly common for relatives and friends to be placed on the politician’s payroll, regardless of whether or not they know anything about security.</p> <p> <b>‘Our Government Is Like a Big Mafia’</b> </p> <p>By contrast, genuine bodyguards are required to protect the members of the parliamentary anti-corruption and the budget committee, which include men like Sheikh Sabah al-Saadi and women like Shada al-Moussawi. “You don’t make any friends when you demonstrate to the national security adviser that he is legally entitled to a staff of 60, but in reality has 273 people on his payroll,” says Moussawi. When her committee decided to summon a minister, she received threatening phone calls: “It was an interesting time for me in parliament. I certainly won’t run for another term.”</p> <p>Al-Saadi also recounts how he was often threatened with “physical liquidation.” “Our government is like a big Mafia,” he says. “We uncovered networks that extend through virtually all ministries.” His own Shiite party, Fadila (Virtue), is not involved, he claims, because it has no ministers in the cabinet.</p> <p>Saadi’s party has joined the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), one of two coalitions of political forces that — depending on the election results — will appoint the next prime minister. A key development will come in January, when the Kurds decide who they prefer — the Shiite dominated INA or the list of candidates put forward by Prime Minister Maliki. And the Kurds’ decision will depend on which alliance is more likely to guarantee them the big prize: the oil city of Kirkuk, which is claimed by both Kurds and Arabs.</p> <p>“Compared with the conflicts that threaten to erupt following the elections, corruption may actually be a stabilizing factor,” says Joost Hiltermann, an analyst for the International Crisis Group. “Corruption keeps people’s minds focused on money instead of violence,” says Hiltermann.</p> <p> <b>Religion and Politics Don’t Mix</b> </p> <p>So far in post-Saddam Iraq, the custom has been to include as many political groups as possible in the government. But there have been disadvantages to this approach, foremost among them that it has prevented the emergence of an opposition. </p> <p>“The model of the national unity government has failed,” says Safiya Suhail, a liberal member of parliament. There was a time when the US placed its hopes in politicians like her. When President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address to Congress in February 2005, she sat in the audience as a symbol of the new, democratic Iraq.</p> <p>Suhail entered parliament on the list by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. After serving as an independent for a few years she has now changed camps and gone over to Prime Minister Maliki. She recently appeared as the only woman without a head scarf when he presented his list — Maliki was one of the first to understand that politics and religion don’t mix in Iraq.</p> <p>His own party was originally called Dawa Islamiya (Islamic Mission). Now he’s dropped the adjective, referring to it simply as the Dawa. Other parties have followed Maliki’s lead. The competing list no longer calls itself the House of the Shia, but emphasizes instead that a large number of Sunni leaders have joined it. Other groups have gone for ideologically neutral names like The Center or The Constitution or The Qualified. All parties want to avoid coming under suspicion of representing a specific religious movement. Fears are still rife that a civil war could erupt between Sunnis and Shiites, though that seems unlikely at the moment. There is hope that in the new Iraq, old conflicts will be settled in the political arena.</p> <p> <b>‘We’ve Learned a Great Deal’</b> </p> <p>In contrast to four years ago, the green flag of the Prophet, half moons and swords no longer dominate election posters. “We’ve learned a great deal,” admits Sheikh Jalaleddin Saghir. He is a Shiite like Maliki, but a fierce rival of his former ally.</p> <p>What disturbs Saghir about the prime minister is exactly what makes him popular among voters: his impulsiveness and his tendency to govern Iraq as a strongman. “Maliki has put a lot of talent into disappointing his friends and making enemies,” says Saghir.</p> <p>Many in Iraq have felt the brunt — starting with the Shiite militias in Basra, Kut, Hilla and Madinat al-Sadr, when Maliki staged a decisive crackdown in March 2008. Some of his former coalition partners then complained that the brutality of the operation — called Charge of the Knights — was comparable to Saddam’s punitive campaigns in the south.</p> <p>Maliki also doesn’t shy away from confronting the Kurds — he engages their Peshmerga fighters whenever they try to exert their influence beyond their autonomy zone. Individual Sunni tribes, whose so-called “awakening” councils were primarily responsible for driving al-Qaida out of central Iraq, are ignored by Maliki. And finally there is the formerly US-supported People’s Mujahedin of Iran, a group that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Maliki ordered government troops to attack their base at Camp Ashraf in July, resulting in 11 casualties and 500 wounded, according to the Iranian rebels.</p> <p>“Maliki is drunk with power right now,” says a member of parliament who experienced his behavior first-hand at a secret meeting with the heads of the parties represented in parliament. “He openly threatened us there: If anyone brings something against him and his Dawa Party, he will definitely also find something against him.”</p> <p> <b>Secret Decree</b> </p> <p>The prime minister has “a strong authoritarian vein,” says Kadhim al-Rikabi, who heads an association for independent media. He says it is frightening to see with what determination that government is gagging the press: “If the US occupation has left us with one good body of legislation, then this would be the media decrees of 2003,” says Rikabi. At the time, US proconsul Paul Bremer set up an independent media council, whose members were to be elected by parliament.</p> <p>But ever since Maliki has been in office, Kadhim complains, he has personally named the media councils, which are allowed to grant print, online and broadcasting licenses. He has reintroduced the censorship laws from the Saddam era, and directly intervenes if he disapproves of articles. He also issued a secret decree dated Aug. 6 and sent to the interior, defense and health ministries. “The Prime Minister and Supreme Commander has ordered,” he wrote, “that every government official who, after terrorist attacks gives details concerning the victims to media outlets, shall be severely punished.” </p> <p>Maliki’s vision of patriotic reporting can be viewed on the broadcasts of the government channel Al Iraqiya. The leader always sits at the front of the table, with subordinates right and left who take notes on his speeches. Praise for the wisdom of his leadership is compulsory — just as it used to be in the days of dictatorship.</p> <p> <b>Good Morning Baghdad</b> </p> <p>“Ah, look how beautiful our city is in the autumn,” said a presenter a few days ago on the “Good Morning, Iraq” show. “Now let’s listen to a song by Qassim Sultan.”</p> <p>Images of a surreally beautiful Baghdad flashed on the screen, children swinging in the city’s Saura amusement park, a baker sliding bread into an oven, policeman directing traffic on Kahramana Square. “Good morning, Baghdad,” sang Qassim Sultan, “good morning, our life, inshallah (Allah willing), will be wonderful.”</p> <p>These are songs of the Sirens, reminiscent of the rule of Saddam. The reality in Baghdad is different, but it is without a doubt better than in the past few years marred by violence, attacks and barbarity, which form the basis of comparison in today’s Iraq.</p> </div> <p id="spIntroTeaser">Life is returning to the streets of Iraq as improved security has meant theater openings, packed restaurants and an emerging middle class. But violence is still an element of daily life and corruption threatens to become debilitating.</p> <div id="spArticleBody"> <p>Mohammed al-Rahhal wears sideburns, a white suit and a red shirt open to his chest. On stage at a Baghdad nightclub, he sings, dances and taps his boots to the beat of the music. A band is playing behind him, and four young women are swooning at his side — three thin ones wearing pumps and full-length dresses, and a heavy, slightly clumsier one.</p> <p> The audience at Khayyam — named after a Persian poet — is drinking ice-cold beer, nibbling on Lebanese hors d’oeuvres, and swinging exuberantly to the music. A bouncer is collecting small arms at the entrance. Then a businessman stands up, walks up to the stage, pulls a stack of banknotes out of his pocket and whispers something into the singer’s ear.</p> <p>“Long live the youth of Adhamiyah!”, Rahhal bellows into the microphone. Adhamiyah is one of the Sunni districts of Baghdad that, until two years ago, was firmly in the stranglehold of al-Qaida.</p> <p>“Long live the youth of Madinat al-Sadr!” It’s a reference to the eastern Shiite slum that has been the scene of devastating suicide attacks. Cheers erupt. The businessman tosses piles of 1,000-dinar and one-dollar bills into the air. The money is whirled about by the ceiling fans, and it slowly falls to the floor, like confetti.</p> <p>“This is Iraq!” a Turkmen from Kirkuk yells over the din. “This country will never become a theocracy!” The euphoria escalates into joyful pandemonium. Young men — Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis, Christians and Shiites — jump up and dance in front of the stage.</p> <p> <b>Zest for Life</b> </p> <p>The first nightclub in Baghdad began welcoming guests a year ago — the first to open for business since the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein suddenly developed a religious streak after defeat in the first Gulf War in Kuwait and prohibited the serving of alcohol. The conservative Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, of all people, lifted the ban.</p> <p>Now, after years of violence and death, a zest for life has seized Iraq. On Thursday evenings, endless wedding convoys pull up at the hotel security checkpoints, causing traffic to back up for miles. Once they arrive, 50, sometimes as many as 60 couples tie the knot in mass weddings at establishments with names like the Mansur, the Babil, and the Palestine. Right up until the curfew at midnight, colorful lanterns light up Abu Nuwas Street, a famous riverside promenade.</p> <p>The carp restaurants in the park along the Tigris, which were deserted during the years of terror, are once again doing a brisk business. So too are the police officers who provide security for the neighborhood, often in return for a bit of cash in hand.</p> <p>In late June, US troops began their withdrawal, and in January, post-war Iraq is to go to the polls for the third time. The new state is gradually taking shape after a violent birth that cost the lives of nearly 100,000 Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans. It is not the model Arab democracy that former US President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair once envisioned. Neither is it the Islamic Republic that the mullahs in Tehran would like to see as their neighbor. And it is certainly not the murderous caliphate that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden wanted to establish in Mesopotamia.</p> <p> <b>An Authoritarian Nationalist</b> </p> <p>It is a state in which hundreds of people continue to die every month in attacks and gunfights. Al-Qaida has been forced to retreat to the north, where it has been launching an increasing number of assaults in recent weeks. Now that the war between Sunnis and Shiites has ceased, the terrorist organization intends to rekindle the conflict between Arabs and Kurds.</p> <p>In the south the government is trying to boost oil production, but in June when it opened bidding for eight oil fields, an investor could only be found for one. Iraq is the richest country in the Middle East, after Iran; it has the oil that Syria, Egypt and Turkey don’t have; it has the water that is not widely available in the region; and it has an educated elite. But it also has a government that hasn’t even begun to exploit this potential.</p> <p>The result is a contradictory polity that, for both the Iraqis and the rest of the world, will take some time to get used to. It is a police state — but also one that grants liberties the likes of which have not been seen in living memory. It is an oil superpower riddled by nepotism and corruption, where a handful of parliamentarians are struggling to forge a constitutional state. It is a country whose prime minister, during a mere three and a half years in office, has gone from being a Shiite compromise candidate to an authoritarian nationalist who nonetheless allows for an unusual amount of freedom.</p> <p>A new, rich upper-class has emerged. During the religious fasting month of Ramadan two years ago, commercial jets flying between Baghdad and Beirut, Amman and Dubai were not even half full. This year’s festival, which took place from late August to late September, saw flights booked out well in advance. Iraq’s elite went shopping. In the affluent Karrada district of Baghdad where, following the US invasion in 2003, new refrigerators, children’s bicycles and kerosene heaters heralded an initial wave of prosperity, car dealerships are now selling Porsches and Jaguars.</p> <p> <b>‘Lining Their Pockets’</b> </p> <p>A great deal of money is in circulation, but where does it come from? “Corruption was always bad,” says former Minister of Telecommunications Juwan Fouad Masum<i>. </i>She says that the upcoming elections in January are spurring politicians and high-ranking officials to ever greater degrees of vice. “No minister or general director knows if he will retain his post after the elections. So they’re filling their pockets now.”</p> <p>Masum lives in the Kadissija compound, a residential area guarded by Kurdish elite units, where Saddam’s ministers once resided. Four cars are parked in front of her villa and the swimming pool glows blue in the twilight.</p> <p>“The problem,” she says “is the system.” When a minister leaves office, the entire staff of the ministry leaves as well, right down to the man who makes the tea. This is a custom which has been revived from the Saddam era. There is rampant cronyism, which also leads to incompetence and corruption. Masum now has a job directing a business consulting firm. She says she would rather work abroad than in her own country.</p> </p> <p><b>Debilitating Corruption in the New Iraq</b></p> <p>Over the past few years, Iraq has risen to become the second-most corrupt country in the world, surpassed only by Somalia on the index of the international non-governmental corruption watchdog Transparency International. Former Minister of Trade Abd al-Falah Sudani, along with his brothers, embezzled so much money from the food rationing program — known as the Public Distribution System — that he decided it would be best to flee to Dubai. His plane was already in the air when it was ordered to return to Baghdad, where he was arrested at the airport.</p> <p>“We have 10 hours of electricity a day, 15 hours of freedom of speech and 24 hours of corruption,” as the Kurds say in northern Iraq, where two clans have been pulling the strings for decades. One of these groups is led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.</p> <p>The parliament in Baghdad is actually one of the bodies responsible for investigating such abuses. “Our monthly salary is the equivalent of €6,700 ($10,000),” says Maysoon al-Damluji, a parliamentarian. “In addition, we are each entitled to 30 security personnel with a minimum salary of €300 per month.” She doesn’t want to malign her colleagues, she adds, but it is highly common for relatives and friends to be placed on the politician’s payroll, regardless of whether or not they know anything about security.</p> <p> <b>‘Our Government Is Like a Big Mafia’</b> </p> <p>By contrast, genuine bodyguards are required to protect the members of the parliamentary anti-corruption and the budget committee, which include men like Sheikh Sabah al-Saadi and women like Shada al-Moussawi. “You don’t make any friends when you demonstrate to the national security adviser that he is legally entitled to a staff of 60, but in reality has 273 people on his payroll,” says Moussawi. When her committee decided to summon a minister, she received threatening phone calls: “It was an interesting time for me in parliament. I certainly won’t run for another term.”</p> <p>Al-Saadi also recounts how he was often threatened with “physical liquidation.” “Our government is like a big Mafia,” he says. “We uncovered networks that extend through virtually all ministries.” His own Shiite party, Fadila (Virtue), is not involved, he claims, because it has no ministers in the cabinet.</p> <p>Saadi’s party has joined the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), one of two coalitions of political forces that — depending on the election results — will appoint the next prime minister. A key development will come in January, when the Kurds decide who they prefer — the Shiite dominated INA or the list of candidates put forward by Prime Minister Maliki. And the Kurds’ decision will depend on which alliance is more likely to guarantee them the big prize: the oil city of Kirkuk, which is claimed by both Kurds and Arabs.</p> <p>“Compared with the conflicts that threaten to erupt following the elections, corruption may actually be a stabilizing factor,” says Joost Hiltermann, an analyst for the International Crisis Group. “Corruption keeps people’s minds focused on money instead of violence,” says Hiltermann.</p> <p> <b>Religion and Politics Don’t Mix</b> </p> <p>So far in post-Saddam Iraq, the custom has been to include as many political groups as possible in the government. But there have been disadvantages to this approach, foremost among them that it has prevented the emergence of an opposition. </p> <p>“The model of the national unity government has failed,” says Safiya Suhail, a liberal member of parliament. There was a time when the US placed its hopes in politicians like her. When President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address to Congress in February 2005, she sat in the audience as a symbol of the new, democratic Iraq.</p> <p>Suhail entered parliament on the list by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. After serving as an independent for a few years she has now changed camps and gone over to Prime Minister Maliki. She recently appeared as the only woman without a head scarf when he presented his list — Maliki was one of the first to understand that politics and religion don’t mix in Iraq.</p> <p>His own party was originally called Dawa Islamiya (Islamic Mission). Now he’s dropped the adjective, referring to it simply as the Dawa. Other parties have followed Maliki’s lead. The competing list no longer calls itself the House of the Shia, but emphasizes instead that a large number of Sunni leaders have joined it. Other groups have gone for ideologically neutral names like The Center or The Constitution or The Qualified. All parties want to avoid coming under suspicion of representing a specific religious movement. Fears are still rife that a civil war could erupt between Sunnis and Shiites, though that seems unlikely at the moment. There is hope that in the new Iraq, old conflicts will be settled in the political arena.</p> <p> <b>‘We’ve Learned a Great Deal’</b> </p> <p>In contrast to four years ago, the green flag of the Prophet, half moons and swords no longer dominate election posters. “We’ve learned a great deal,” admits Sheikh Jalaleddin Saghir. He is a Shiite like Maliki, but a fierce rival of his former ally.</p> <p>What disturbs Saghir about the prime minister is exactly what makes him popular among voters: his impulsiveness and his tendency to govern Iraq as a strongman. “Maliki has put a lot of talent into disappointing his friends and making enemies,” says Saghir.</p> <p>Many in Iraq have felt the brunt — starting with the Shiite militias in Basra, Kut, Hilla and Madinat al-Sadr, when Maliki staged a decisive crackdown in March 2008. Some of his former coalition partners then complained that the brutality of the operation — called Charge of the Knights — was comparable to Saddam’s punitive campaigns in the south.</p> <p>Maliki also doesn’t shy away from confronting the Kurds — he engages their Peshmerga fighters whenever they try to exert their influence beyond their autonomy zone. Individual Sunni tribes, whose so-called “awakening” councils were primarily responsible for driving al-Qaida out of central Iraq, are ignored by Maliki. And finally there is the formerly US-supported People’s Mujahedin of Iran, a group that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Maliki ordered government troops to attack their base at Camp Ashraf in July, resulting in 11 casualties and 500 wounded, according to the Iranian rebels.</p> <p>“Maliki is drunk with power right now,” says a member of parliament who experienced his behavior first-hand at a secret meeting with the heads of the parties represented in parliament. “He openly threatened us there: If anyone brings something against him and his Dawa Party, he will definitely also find something against him.”</p> <p> <b>Secret Decree</b> </p> <p>The prime minister has “a strong authoritarian vein,” says Kadhim al-Rikabi, who heads an association for independent media. He says it is frightening to see with what determination that government is gagging the press: “If the US occupation has left us with one good body of legislation, then this would be the media decrees of 2003,” says Rikabi. At the time, US proconsul Paul Bremer set up an independent media council, whose members were to be elected by parliament.</p> <p>But ever since Maliki has been in office, Kadhim complains, he has personally named the media councils, which are allowed to grant print, online and broadcasting licenses. He has reintroduced the censorship laws from the Saddam era, and directly intervenes if he disapproves of articles. He also issued a secret decree dated Aug. 6 and sent to the interior, defense and health ministries. “The Prime Minister and Supreme Commander has ordered,” he wrote, “that every government official who, after terrorist attacks gives details concerning the victims to media outlets, shall be severely punished.” </p> <p>Maliki’s vision of patriotic reporting can be viewed on the broadcasts of the government channel Al Iraqiya. The leader always sits at the front of the table, with subordinates right and left who take notes on his speeches. Praise for the wisdom of his leadership is compulsory — just as it used to be in the days of dictatorship.</p> <p> <b>Good Morning Baghdad</b> </p> <p>“Ah, look how beautiful our city is in the autumn,” said a presenter a few days ago on the “Good Morning, Iraq” show. “Now let’s listen to a song by Qassim Sultan.”</p> <p>Images of a surreally beautiful Baghdad flashed on the screen, children swinging in the city’s Saura amusement park, a baker sliding bread into an oven, policeman directing traffic on Kahramana Square. “Good morning, Baghdad,” sang Qassim Sultan, “good morning, our life, inshallah (Allah willing), will be wonderful.”</p> <p>These are songs of the Sirens, reminiscent of the rule of Saddam. The reality in Baghdad is different, but it is without a doubt better than in the past few years marred by violence, attacks and barbarity, which form the basis of comparison in today’s Iraq.</p> </div> <p><i>Translated from the German by Paul Cohen</i></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,656329,00.html" target="_blank" class="external">‘Good Morning Baghdad’: Nightclubs, Corruption and Iraq’s New Normalcy</a> | By Bernhard Zand |SPIEGEL ONLINE</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-7434"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/10/07/trendy-teahouses-strain-baghdad-traditions/#respond" title="Comment on Trendy Teahouses Strain Baghdad Traditions">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 7th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/10/07/trendy-teahouses-strain-baghdad-traditions/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Trendy Teahouses Strain Baghdad Traditions">Trendy Teahouses Strain Baghdad Traditions</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amil/" rel="tag">Amil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/central-baghdad/" rel="tag">central baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iwpr/" rel="tag">IWPR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/karrada/" rel="tag">Karrada</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nargileh/" rel="tag">Nargileh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oud/" rel="tag">oud</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returned-refugees/" rel="tag">Returned Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tea-houses/" rel="tag">Tea houses</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Swanky TVs, soft drinks and exotic tobacco lure a young, mixed crowd to new-look cafes. </p> <p>Sweet fumes of white smoke rise with the cries of men playing dominoes in the teahouse, spreading an unfamiliar scent in a traditional setting. </p> <p>Change is wafting through the musty, masculine café culture of Baghdad, and fruit-flavoured tobacco is just one sign of it. The fragrant product is replacing the pure tobacco leaf smoked by generations of Iraqis in the hubble-bubble, or nargileh. </p> <p>It is served in a new type of teahouse whose other attractions typically include giant TV screens, a range of soft drinks besides the traditional tea, and occasionally, a few women clients among the men. </p> <p>Venues of this kind are thriving with better security in Baghdad, though other forms of leisure remain limited by the conflict. </p> <p>“Where else can we go in a country where there are no places for amusement?” asked Ali Hussein, a 32-year-old motor parts dealer in Baghdad. “The cafe is heaven for us – a place to meet friends and release the fatigue of work.” </p> <p>The crowd at the new teahouses is generally youthful, with tastes in entertainment shaped by neighbouring countries where some lived until recently as refugees. </p> <p>Sarmad al-Waili, a music-store owner in his early thirties, sees much in common between the new type of Baghdadi café and the ones he frequented when he fled to Syria during the sectarian conflict. </p> <p>“Young Iraqis who came back after the situation grew calmer are copying the Syrian style,” he said. “They’ve paid more attention to the décor and the quality of service.” </p> <p>Sarmad’s favourite venue is Al-Iraq, a modernised teahouse in central Baghdad offering attentive waiters, dozens of nargileh (snack food) and live sports on flat-screen TV monitors. </p> <p>“This café was very different ten years ago,” said Dhiya Nasaif Jasim, the 42-year-old owner of Al-Iraq. </p> <p>“I’ve replaced the bamboo chairs with plastic ones because they last longer, and I’ve added lights and plants to improve the atmosphere,” he said. Dhiya says his customers spend an average of 5,000 Iraqi dinars (about 4 US dollars) per person. The average used to be 1,500 dinars. </p> <p>“Young people nowadays are looking for more greenery, and a special setting,” he said. </p> <p>According to Dhiya, the clientele inside the tearoom has changed with the décor, “Cafes used to be for people aged 25 and upward. It was shameful for anyone younger than that to be seen in one. Nowadays, you see all sorts – from teenagers to the elderly.” </p> <p>The conversation has changed too, taking in the country’s contentious politics in a way that was impossible in the days of Saddam Hussein, when the fear of informers fostered taboos. </p> <p>“People discuss sectarian issues,” said Hassan al-Ani, a taxi driver in his forties, adding that a recent bank robbery and a corruption investigation have also been major talking points in the teahouse. </p> <p>Not all are comfortable with this candour. Despite recent improvements, Baghdad remains a violent and unpredictable city. </p> <p>“I avoid speaking of sectarian matters,” Sarmad said. “If it comes up in conversation, I try to change the subject or leave.” </p> <p>Dhiya says he rarely hears anyone discussing the Shia-Sunni divide, blamed for much of Iraq’s recent bloodshed. He remains cautious however – guards search customers entering his café and weapons are not permitted. </p> <p>Most of the time, Dhiya says, teahouse chatter explores new political and social freedoms. </p> <p>“In the past, the customers mostly spoke of personal troubles, life, food rations… and very cautiously about the government. Now they speak openly about the government, criticising it without fear,” he said. </p> <p>“Young people also speak freely about their love affairs and their relationships with girls.” </p> <p>Women may feature heavily in conversations between men but they remain a minority, even in Baghdad’s more modern teahouses. </p> <p>Hamid Salim, a 28-year-old electrician from the Karrada district, wishes the women were more visible. “We are not doing anything wrong. In the Muslim countries of the Gulf, you can see women smoking the nargileh. Why should it be a problem here?” he said. </p> <p>Isam Ahmed, a 19-year-old student at a nargileh café in northern Baghdad’s Tunis district, also cites the example of neighbouring countries. </p> <p>He says Iraqi teahouses have gone through a revolution, now that teenagers like him can visit them without fear of disapproval. “In my father’s time, only my grandfather smoked the nargileh,” he said. </p> <p>For some old-timers in the old-fashioned establishments, the presence of women and young men in teahouses is a source of concern. </p> <p>Subhi al-Hadithi, a man in his late sixties dressed in a dishdasha, believes smoking nargileh is a privilege acquired with age. </p> <p>“It corrupts young men, and wastes their creative potential and their money,” he said, seated in Baghdad’s traditional Hassan Ajmi teahouse, where dusty fans dangle from a wooden roof. </p> <p>“No one is forbidden from entering the cafes but allowing women and men to smoke in the same place is a misinterpretation of freedom.” </p> <p>However, another habitué of the old-fashioned teahouses says women ought to be made welcome. “Given all this talk about equality and women’s rights, I think it is very civilised to have women sitting in cafes,” said Mohammed Nasir, a retired government employee. </p> <p>Nonetheless, reservations about admitting women remain widespread. </p> <p>Dhiya, the owner of the al-Iraq teahouse, recalls having to eject customers from his bar after an armed confrontation over a girl. </p> <p>“Young Iraqis are not mature enough to accept [mingling between the sexes],” he said. “I am sure it will create problems as they start to flirt with girls and harass them.” </p> <p>Sarmad, the music-store owner who frequents Al-Iraq, also says he would rather women stayed away, “I don’t feel at ease to joke loudly or call my friends rude names when women are around.” </p> <p>“I come here to have a break from the wife and from the noise of the children.” </p> <p>Good Iraqi women do not go to such venues, he says, adding that it would create problems with his wife if she learnt women also frequented the teahouses. </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-356372" class="external" target="_blank">Trendy Teahouses Strain Baghdad Traditions</a> By Khalid al-Ansary in Baghdad (ICR No. 308, 7-Oct-09). Khalid al-Ansary is an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.iwpr.net/" class="external" target="_blank">IWPR</a>-trained journalist in Baghdad. </p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-6584"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/06/20/iraki-magic/#comments" title="Comment on Iraki Magic">1 Comment</a></span> Posted on June 20th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/06/20/iraki-magic/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraki Magic">Iraki Magic</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abdel-mounem-ahmad/" rel="tag">Abdel Mounem Ahmad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/amazon/" rel="tag">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-music/" rel="tag">arab music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/artists/" rel="tag">Artists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fadi-fares-aziz/" rel="tag">Fadi Fares Aziz</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/happy-memories/" rel="tag">happy memories</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mp3/" rel="tag">MP3</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music-sharing-sites/" rel="tag">music sharing sites</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ney/" rel="tag">ney</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oud/" rel="tag">oud</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pan-flute/" rel="tag">pan flute</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qanun/" rel="tag">qanun</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/recording/" rel="tag">recording</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salim-salem/" rel="tag">Salim Salem</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transitions/" rel="tag">Transitions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transitions-music-album/" rel="tag">Transitions music album</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/uplifting-music/" rel="tag">uplifting music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-refugee-day/" rel="tag">World refugee day</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af/" rel="tag">بغداد</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Three Iraki refugees have released a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002B5OR7E/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_opt" target="_blank" class="external">15 track album</a> of peaceful and uplifting music for World Refugee Day. All proceeds from the sale of their music will be used to help other Iraqi refugees.</p> <p><a title="transitions350x350" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/3644821778/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px" alt="transitions350x350" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://static.flickr.com/2179/3644821778_5b0fa6185c.jpg" align="right" border="0"/></a>Three Iraki musicians, Salim Salem, Abdel Mounem Ahmad and Fadi Fares Aziz, all of them refugees, have released a 15 track album [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transitions-Iraqi-Musicians-Move/dp/B002B5OR7E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" target="_blank" class="external">UK download page</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002B3UT2I/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1244789138&sr=8-1" target="_blank" class="external">US download link</a> ]  of enchanting Iraki music to Amazon [<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002B3UT2I/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1244789138&sr=8-1" target="_blank" class="external">US</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transitions-Iraqi-Musicians-Move/dp/B002B5OR7E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" target="_blank" class="external">UK</a>] and other music sharing sites such as iTunes, Napster, Amie Street, IMVU, lala, ShockHound, Rhapsody and emusic to honour today – world refugee day. The album which the trio decided should be called "<em>Transitions</em>" was made with the help of the UNHCR and any profits will go to help other Iraki refugees.</p> <p>The three met in Damascus as refugees who had fled the bloodbath that is occupied Irak. They say they had often talked about recording Iraki music that they hoped would touch an international audience. Salim Salem’s dream of recording with Abdel Mounem and Fadi Fares Aziz became reality when the UNHCR office in Damascus agreed to help the trio as part of its campaign to Iraki artists living as refugees in Syria the chance to express themselves artistically. </p> <p>The music is a beautiful fusion of classical and modern techniques, airs, and styles, and is inspired by their experience of life as refugees. Abdel Mounem Ahmad on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanun_(instrument)" target="_blank" class="external">qanún</a> (a kind of zither), Fadi Fares Aziz on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ney" target="_blank" class="external">ney</a> (a type of pan flute) and Salim Salem on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oud" class="external" target="_blank">oud</a> (lute), have managed to produce a collection of hauntingly beautiful elegaic melodies that soothe the soul. Baghdad was a centre for Arab music, and for me this music calls up very happy memories of sitting in some of the city’s teashops laughing with friends and marvelling at the musical dexterity and diversity on offer. The fact that every track downloaded will mean 60 US cents for the UNHCR’s lifeline programme for refugees in Syria made my enjoyment of this wonderful album by three very talented musicians all the sweeter. </p> <p>The album works well as an introduction to Iraki music, a collection of soothing and refreshing melodies, and as an excuse to donate to a good cause – enjoy</p> <p>markfromireland</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-5719"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/03/25/iraqi-artists-in-syria-get-a-rare-chance-to-exhibit-their-work/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi artists in Syria get a rare chance to exhibit their work">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 25th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/03/25/iraqi-artists-in-syria-get-a-rare-chance-to-exhibit-their-work/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi artists in Syria get a rare chance to exhibit their work">Iraqi artists in Syria get a rare chance to exhibit their work</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/artists/" rel="tag">Artists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/festivals/" rel="tag">Festivals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oud/" rel="tag">oud</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><img height="239" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/iraq/graphic.jpg?tbl=NEWS&id=49ca4e942" width="347" border="0"/></p> <p><i>Purely Abstract: Wadhah Mahdi next to one of his colourful creations. © </i><i>UNHCR/G.Brust</i> </p> <p>DAMASCUS, Syria, March 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency’s Damascus office has opened an exhibition of widely diverse works by 22 Iraqis, giving them a rare chance to display their art to a wide and discerning audience.</p> <p>More than 250 people attended the opening of "Transitions" on Tuesday night at the Iraqi Cultural Centre, including diplomats, Syrian government officials, refugees and aid workers. Several paintings were sold, bringing much needed income to some of the artists, most of whom are refugees.</p> <p>UNHCR Acting Representative in Syria Philippe Leclerc, opening the display, said the art "reflects the talent and resourcefulness of the Iraqi population" as well as the "important insights that artists have on the situation of refugees and Iraq."</p> <p>Most of the featured artists live in Damascus, unable to return home to Iraq for safety reasons. Others have paid brief visits to Iraq in recent months, but have not made a final decision to return. One artist never left Iraq, but has not been able to exhibit his art for several years because of the situation in Baghdad.</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/03/25/iraqi-artists-in-syria-get-a-rare-chance-to-exhibit-their-work/#more-5719" class="more-link">» أقرأ التفاصيل .. | Read the rest of this entry »</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-4597"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2008/09/14/%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%ad%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b3%d9%8a%d9%82%d9%89-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%b7%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%aa-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a7/#respond" title="Comment on طارق حسون:الموسيقى في اوروبا تطورت من الالات العربية">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 14th, 2008 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2008/09/14/%d8%b7%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%82-%d8%ad%d8%b3%d9%88%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b3%d9%8a%d9%82%d9%89-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%b7%d9%88%d8%b1%d8%aa-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a7/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to طارق حسون:الموسيقى في اوروبا تطورت من الالات العربية">طارق حسون:الموسيقى في اوروبا تطورت من الالات العربية</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/music/" rel="tag">music</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oud/" rel="tag">oud</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/society-and-economy/" rel="tag">Society And Economy</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>بدأ طارق حسون فريد العزف في فرقة اكرم رؤوف الخاصة بدار المعلمين العام 1953على آلة الكمان حتى اصبح اليوم من كبار الموسيقيين في العراق. <img style="margin: 10px 0px 5px 15px" height="250" alt="oud" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543im_/http://gorillasguides.com/images/f0959bf16593_9079/oud.jpg" width="350" align="right" border="0"/> <br/>ويعد فريد من الاساتذة الاوائل في جامعة بغداد الذي ناقش واشرف على العديد من الرسائل والاطاريح الجامعية وتخرج على يديه طلاب موهوبون في الموسيقى وله مؤلفات عديدة وكراريس متخصصة. <br/>اشار فريد الى ان الموسيقى في العراق تشهد اهمالا واضحا من قبل المعنين بها خاصة وان التقديم للدراسات العليا بالنسية للاختصاصات الموسيقة في كليات الفنون الجميلة توقف خلال السنتين الماضيتين بسبب النقص في الكادر التدريسي المتخصص بالفنون الموسيقية وان الحل لهذه المشكلة هي توفير الزمالات و البعثات الدراسية لطلبة شهادة الماجستير للحصول على درجة الدكتوراه . <br/>وعبر فريد عن امله ان يلتفت المسؤولون في مجلس الوزراء ووزارة التعليم العالي لهذه الامور والاهتمام بدراسة وتنفيذ المقترح من اجل التقدم العلمي والفني في آن واحد. <br/>وتكلم فريد عن تطور الموسيقى في العالم وقد اكد ان اصل الالات وتطورها في اوروبا جاء بعد وصول الالات الموسيقية اليها، منها العود والقانون والسنطور والناي والجوزة واستطاعت ان تستعمل هذه الالات في فنونها الغنائية والراقصة ومع تطور تعبيراتها الحسية والجمالية ظهرت الات جديدة تختلف في اجسامها وعدد اوتارها وهذا ياتي نتيجة تطور البلد. <br/>واشار فريد الى ان كل ما تبلور واستجد من نظريات موسيقية وآلات موسيقية واشكال وصيغ وقوالب ادائية لفنونها المختلفة انما وجدت مترجمات لما يغنى ويعزف على الات موسيقية مثلا عازف العود يترجم ما يغنيه المطرب فهذه ليست لغة موسيقية معبرة والتقاسيم التي تبدأ بها الاغنية ماخوذة من روح الاغنية فهذه ليست اغنية فهناك مصطلح يدعى (بالحضارة الغيناسيقية) الذي اكد على الغناء المرتبط بالواقع والثقافة فمن الصعب عبور الحدود الاخرى واذا انتقل الغناء عبر الحدود يصبح لغة عالمية وعلى شكل فلكلور فمثلا منذ الخمسينيات نقل المطربون القدماء الفلكلور وليس موسيقى عراقية منهم ناظم الغزالي والفنان رضا علي.</p> </div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130127010543/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/04/19/hezbollah-says-latest-bombings-in-iraq-thwart-mission-to-build-state/">Hezbollah 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